Dark Lord Imperial Stout - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

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BA SCORE
96
world-class
-
2,225 Ratings

rAvg: 4.33
pDev: 15.01%
Reviews: 1088
Hads: 1137

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Brewed by:
Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

Indiana, United States

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 15.00% ABV

Availability: Spring. bottle (1049), on-tap (35), cask (3), growler (1).

Notes:
2004 - Red Wax
2005 - Orange Wax
2006 - Gold Wax
2007 - Silver Wax
2008 - Black Wax
2009 - White Wax
2010 - Olive Green Wax
2011 - Yellow Wax
2012 - Red Wax
2013 - Orange Wax

View: Beers (80) | Reviews (299) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by Scotchboy:

Scotchboy

Idaho

4.25/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Red-waxed 22oz bomber from ChiTownPackFan (thanks much, man!). 2012 bottling, poured into a Deschutes tulip and split with my brother.

A: Dense and dark; opaque, with a very small amount of dark tan head. There are some viscous alcohol legs sticking to the glass. Looks...menacing.

S: Holy sweetness...vanilla, caramel, dark fruit even. Milky too in a way, like there is lactose sugar in it. Mostly its just unfermentable sugars and vanilla, with just hints of coffee and roasted malt.

T: Really follows the nose, the sugary component makes this a slooow sipper. Lots of vanilla, caramel, coffee and milk chocolate all mixed together. Decent dark fruit component here, tastes a little like a black cherry; almost tart in a way. Toasted sugars reminiscent of molasses. Licorice too? A bit of burnt coffee on the finish.

MF: Pretty much full-bodied; viscous, with low carbonation.

O: A pretty sugary, viscous beer. Not as bad as some people make it sound, and definitely not as good as others rave about. Somewhere in the middle; its an overly-sweet stout with a helluva marketing department. On the plus side, I really got no alcohol presence out of it, so I wonder what time in the cellar would do for this beer. If it mellowed the sweetness, I'd be interested in getting another bottle and sitting on it for a few years.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 15:19:32 | More by Scotchboy

More User Reviews:

kevrice88

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev -1.8%

06-17-2013 11:56:45 | More by kevrice88

Hophunter18

Delaware

4/5 rDev -7.6%

06-17-2013 03:57:04 | More by Hophunter18

magictacosinus

California

3.05/5 rDev -29.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Consumed during the second monthly "Beermageddon" with many others recently. 2013 vintage. Poured into a tulip glass from a 22oz bottle. Review is from my notes. Split with 7-8 other people. Even though this was the final beer I had from the night before I lost enough sobriety to review (or physically drink) any further beers, I'm reviewing this first because I have a lot to say about this one. I attended DLD, had a great time, and did indeed wait in line 3 and half hours to buy three of these. However, I learned over time more and more about criticisms of this thing (really, it's not a "beer" in my view) and also how much this polarizes people overall unlike probably any other offering in the country. Did it confirm these suspicions? Yes, and more! Read on.

Pours a thickened, motor oil, extremely viscous, resinous beast of an imperial stout. The brewers who crafted this definitely seem to have tried to make this the most over-the-top beer from the get-go, and it's evident in the appearance alone. Extremely opaque, which a soft, creamy milk chocolate covered head that quickly dissipates, leaving nothing behind. No lacing. No carbonation. Simply a putrid, dead, fortified wine looking beer. It actually is unlike any beer I've ever seen in that regard, although it's definitely very, very ugly and simultaneously pretty awesome.

The aroma is actually pretty great, combining loads of dark chocolate nibs with black cherries, currants, figs, and coffee extract in one giant load of sweetness and treacly, resinous manner. Extremely boozy, although it accentuates the sweetness within the initial phenols that make this pretty fascinating. Not as sugary sweet as I expected, but rather in the realm of sweetness imparted by brandies and Tawny port wines that I've had in the past. Other flavors linger, such as big molasses, caramel, vanilla, a dash of wood (?), and highly concentrated boozy caramelized notes. However, this all is pretty balanced here and comes in spades, but did not prepare me for what was about to happen next.

What happened next? I found myself pelted with a "stout" of the most extreme, harshest nature possible, resembling a combination of a chocolate liqueur, a sweet brandy, and port wine. Absolutely overwhelms the senses right away, combined a slightly burnt brown sugary, syrupy flavor with cherries, molasses, currants, blackberries underneath jaggery and caramel notes. Not as chocolate forward as I like it, and the coffee that this was infused with is nowhere to be found. The alcohol adds a ridiculous amount of sweetness to the beer, but it is also scarily hidden, resulting in an experience that knocks you off your feet if you're not careful. There's a lot of residual sugars and caramelized flavors, but what it makes up in decadence it lacks completely it complexity. No subtlety here, so don't seek this out if it's what you like in the style. The mouthfeel is decent at best, and while it does indeed lack extra carbonation, its sludgy feel reminds me of a heavily tannic and extra sweet port wine (a type of drink I enjoy) rather than a beer, so it's not horrible by any means - only average-minus for the style at hand, and in some ways unlike *anything* within the style. Pretty insane, and it's hard to know what FFF was going for here other than attempting to make the most "ballsy" beer possible, if that.

I know FFF is capable of subtle, delicious beers, and I realize this beer is an excuse to make one of the most ridiculous beers around and create an event out of it in a demented (and some would say brilliant) marketing scheme. I had a lot of fun at DLD for other reasons, but the outcome is definitely disappointing. However, with that said, this does get a high-ish overall score from me because no matter how cloying and grating the drinking experience of this beer is, it's easily one of the most memorable I've had, for better or for worse. It's by far my new favorite crappy beer, because as awful and unbalanced as it may be, it's a lot of fun to drink and is the most intimidating in the style - which is probably exactly what FFF is going for. If you want to see how an imperial stout *shouldn't* be made, but still want one to sample what could be THE hyperbole of craft beer, give this a shot. It definitely is worthy of discussion alone, whatever the hell it is.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 02:15:17 | More by magictacosinus

jaxon53

Connecticut

4.5/5 rDev +3.9%

06-16-2013 23:35:30 | More by jaxon53

ChrisYager39

Indiana

4.5/5 rDev +3.9%

06-16-2013 17:36:15 | More by ChrisYager39

beerinNV

Nevada

4/5 rDev -7.6%

06-16-2013 16:26:47 | More by beerinNV

Stevedore

Wisconsin

4.31/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

22oz bombers from both the 2012 and 2013 vintages. Will review 2013 which I felt was a better beer, with some comparison to the 2012 at the end of this review. Poured into snifters at Dustin's birthday tasting yesterday, 6/15/2013.

Aroma: Phew! Lots of stuff going on here. Mostly an overwhelming sweetness which screams diabetes. There is a lot of nice dark fruit sweetness making me think of figs, raisins and cherries with tons of sweet milk chocolate and a bit of coffee bitterness. Makes me want to dive into this beer. (4.5)

Colour: Very dark brown, almost pure blackness. Pours like incredibly thick motor oil, with a delicious looking 1cm brown head that sticks around briefly until it completely disappears into nothingness. Not much lacing to be spoken of. Looks like a great dessert wine. (4)

Flavour: Damn this is diabetes in a glass. There is a ton of stuff going on, but its mostly dominated by a sweet apple flavour, no tartness. In the background, the dark fruits are ever present, giving a nice blend of sweetness. Lots of bitter black chocolate, and I think there is a good bit of sweet milk chocolate in there too. Near the end there's a decent bit of coffee bitterness. Very complex beer, a bit too sweet and would benefit from perhaps 2 years of age. (4.25)

Mouthfeel: Super thick body, almost goopy. Carbonation is OK, nothing special. Aftertaste is a nice dark chocolate bitterness mixed in with some sweet apple flavours. Incredibly smooth, and there is no booziness whatsoever on this 15% ABV. Nice. (4.5)

Overall: I'm glad to have tried this beer. Very tasty, thick and complex imperial stout that does deserve the moniker "diabetes in a bottle". I actually liked it a lot, though some of the other people at this tasting did not like this version. Compared to the 2012, the 2013 is richer, much more complex but is significantly sweeter. That makes me think the optimal time to drink this beer is in 1.5-2 years. The 2012 brings the same kind of super thick mouthfeel, and while it is still very sweet, it is not as overwhelmingly sweet. However, I feel like the rest of the different flavours are also muted as well in the 2012 compared to the 2013. I'd have to say I'd rather have the 2013 if I had to choose, but I really liked the 2012 because it just wasn't so sweet. Give this one a try if you can, don't go crazy chasing the bottles. (4.25)

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 13:47:01 | More by Stevedore

Hessian257

New Jersey

4.25/5 rDev -1.8%

06-16-2013 13:35:38 | More by Hessian257

purdueflyguy

Colorado

4.84/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

2009 dark lord had on 6/16/2013 at craftheads in Tokyo.

Pours like motor oil with no head. Almost black but a lttle brown comes through.

Smell just a little booze big dark fruit a vanilla notes. With a little chocolate in the background. A little oxidation from the 4 years of age.

Taste big coffe bitterness yet sweet vanilla and bakers chocolate shine through. No booze in the taste.

Feel almost silky smooth with the right amount of carbonation.

Overall awesome beer that was perfectly aged and ready to be drank.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 06:41:12 | More by purdueflyguy